| FreeMotorMarket.co.uk --------- Free to list, private or trade! --------- |
About us
This site was set up in 2011 after a lot of frustration with other sites and figuring we could do a better job! The site has been designed to be easy to use, which means it's clean and quick and everything works as it should. It uses straight (valid) HTML and a minimum of images which means it can be viewed and used in any browser without any problems. Unlike some other sites, you won't get bombarded by ads here. There's only ONE ad on the site, the banner ad you see at the top of the page. This is to help make your experience of our site a good one, which is our aim...delighted users! The site is made for YOU with YOU in mind!
Service description
The site offers cars for sale in the UK, listed by private sellers and trade sellers. It's free to list with the option of paying for a featured listing. Income is generated from featured listings and a single banner ad at the top of the page. Listings get deleted automatically after seven days if they have not been edited or renewed in the meantime, which means ALL our listings are fresh and can never be more than seven days old. Sellers can delete their listing at any time, they can also edit it at any time. Listings run for as long as the seller wants them to run, there is no limit of time on them. There is also no limit to the number of listings a seller can add. Listings may contain up to twenty large pictures and five videos, with no limit on the length of the description.
We only list cars for sale. That means no vans, no bikes, no boats, no parts, no wanted ads. This list is not exhaustive, rather than telling you what we don't list, it's easier to tell you what we do list, just cars, cars for sale. To maintain the integrity and focus of the site, we will delete any listing that isn't a car for sale.
To enable us to focus on cars for sale, we don't do news items, road tests, articles, forums, trade directories, buying and selling tips, recipes, weather or horoscopes...just cars for sale!
Registration
You only need to register if you are adding a listing, saving a search or adding listings to a watch list. Registering is very easy, you only need to enter a username and password, which will only take you a few seconds! You can register from the "Register" link at the top of the page.
Logging in
You need to be logged in to manage your listing, saved searches or watch list. You can log in from the "Login" link at the top of the page which takes you to the User Admin Area. If you have forgotten your login credentials, you can get them emailed to you. You need to have an email address in your contact information in the User Admin Area to receive the email. An email address is optional but it's recommended that you add one for the purpose of retrieving your login credentials, should you forget them.
Adding a listing
To add a listing, click on the bold red "Add a listing!" link at the top of the page. You need to be registered and logged in to add a listing. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to do so. The listing form is just one page, with most fields optional. If you are adding your first listing it will be human-reviewed before being listed. Thereafter, all your listings will be listed straight away. There's more information relevant to the listing form on the form itself, just click on the "Add a listing!" link and you will see it for yourself!
You can include twenty large pictures, five video clips and a full description...all free. You can run the listing for as long as you like but if you don't take any action on it, it will be deleted after seven days. There's no limit to the number of listings you can post.
Managing your listings
You manage your listings from the "Manage listings" section of the User Admin Area which you get from the "Login" link above. You can edit, delete, relist or renew your listing. You can also make it a Featured Listing if it isn't already. You can login at any time and as often as you wish. There's more detailed information about managing your listings in the "Manage listings" section.
Featured listings
It's free to list here but you can pay to have your listing featured. You will get the option to make your listing featured after you submit the listing form. You can also make your listing featured at any time from the "Manage listings" section of the User Admin Area which you get from the "Login" link above.
Featured listings...
appear at the top of search results:
Featured listings are shown at the top of search results, interspersed with standard listings, like this example:
Featured Listing
standard listing
Featured Listing
standard listing
Featured Listing
standard listing
standard listing
standard listing
By default they are sorted by Listing Date. All featured listings relevant to a search are shown, there is no restriction on the number of featured listings displayed, they are not displayed randomly. The above example shows three featured listings, it's just an example, regardless of how many featured listings there are for a search, they are shown in the above manner.
appear on the homepage:
The most-recent featured listings are shown on the homepage, sorted by Featured Date (the date the listing was featured, which may or may not be the same date as the listing date). A maximum of thirty listings are shown. The homepage is designed in such a way that the featured listings are visible "first hit" or "above the fold" without scrolling. The homepage is linked from every page on the site via the site logo and the "Home" link at the top of the page.
appear on the Advanced Search page:
The most-recent featured listings are shown on the Advanced Search page, sorted by Featured Date. A maximum of thirty listings are shown. The Advanced Search page is linked from every page on the site via the "Advanced search" link on the search bar at the top of the page.
appear on the Browse listings page:
The most-recent featured listings are shown on the "Browse listings" page, sorted by Featured Date. A maximum of thirty listings are shown. The "Browse listings" page is linked from every page on the site via the "Browse listings" link on the search bar at the top of the page.
appear on the Featured listings page:
All featured listings are shown on the "Featured listings" page, fifty per page, sorted by Featured Date. The listings on this page may also be sorted in the same way as standard search results (it is essentially a search for featured listings). The "Featured listings" page is linked from every page on the site via the "Featured listings" link on the search bar at the top of the page. The "Featured listings" link is the only bold blue link in the head of the page.
appear on error pages:
The most-recent featured listings are shown on the site-wide error pages for 404 (not found) and 403 (permission denied) errors, and also on the search results page if no listings are found that match a buyer's search. A maximum of thirty listings are shown, sorted by Featured Date.
are made to stand out from standard listings:
When featured listings are shown in search results, the title is shown as a bold blue link. The listing is also marked: Featured Listing. Where featured listings are presented on their own (in most instances above), they are not marked Featured Listing as there aren't any standard listings displayed, so there's nothing to stand out from and it is indicated at the top that they are featured listings. The exception to this is when featured listings are displayed on the "Featured listings" search results page from the "Featured listings" link on the search bar, as these are produced by the search program in the same way they would be if shown beside standard listings.
show a link to your website:
With a featured listing you can display a link to your website (if you have one). A bold blue link: Visit seller's website is shown at the top of the listing. The link is a straight link to your site, no redirects, so will also help your site for SEO purposes. Simply enter the web address (URL) for the link on the listing form when you add or edit the listing. This facility is offered with traders in mind but if you are a private seller and have a website about your car, you're more than welcome to link to it!
show links to all your other listings:
If you have other listings on this site, links will be provided to them at the bottom of the featured listing under "Seller's other listings". As with the website link, this facility is provided with traders in mind but if you are a private seller and you're selling off your collection of unfinished projects (say) then you too can fill yer boots with links to your other listings!
let you see how many views the listing has had:
If a listing is featured, you can see how many views it has had. You can see this in the "Manage listings" section of the User Admin Area.
let you see how many people are watching the listing:
If a listing is featured, you can see how many people have added it to their watch list. You can see the number of watchers in the "Manage listings" section of the User Admin Area.
Your listing gets featured for seven days then becomes a standard listing:
The featured period is seven days. If your listing is still active when the period expires it will automatically become a standard listing. You will get an email telling you that the featured period has expired, and will invite you to feature it again. The featured period of seven days is a maximum, it doesn't mean that your listing will run for seven days whether it sells or not! If you sell the car within the seven day featured period, you can still delete the listing.
The following will be obvious to most but needs to be stated lest there be any misundersting: If you sell your car and/or delete your listing within the seven day featured period, you do not get a refund for "unused" days. Featured listings aren't paid for by the day, the price is for a maximum of seven days, which can be one, two, three, four, five, six or seven days as appropriate.
Payment:
Payment is made through PayPal but you don't need a PayPal account to pay. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can pay through PayPal as a "guest" using your credit or debit card. Just click on the "PayPal BUY NOW" button (when presented), you will be taken to the PayPal payment page where you can select how you would like to pay.
If you pay by credit or debit card, you will see "PAYPAL *FREEMOTORMA" on your card or bank statement.
Saved searches
You can save any search you make on this site. You will need to be registered to do so. Click the "Save this search" link at the bottom of the search results page to save the search. The search is saved in the "Saved searches" section of the User Admin Area. This allows you to perform the same search again by simply clicking a link, which is particularly handy in the case of a complex advanced search.
Email alerts
You can get email alerts when new listings are added that match your saved searches. You can enable email alerts in the "Saved searches" section of the User Admin Area. You can enable or disable alerts for each saved search. Alert emails are sent once a day. If no new listings match your search, you won't get an email.
RSS feeds
Click on the "RSS Feed" link at the bottom of the search results page to subscribe to a search. You will be prompted by your browser to subscribe to the feed. Alternatively you can right-click on the link and copy it for pasting into your feed reader software. You can configure your browser or feed reader to perform this search as often as you desire and it will notify you if there are new listings matching this search. You don't need to be registered to use the RSS feeds.
Watch List
You can keep a Watch List and add listings to it. This is handy if you are looking at a number of listings and need to look back over them or compare them. Every listing has a "Watch this listing" link at the top. Simply click on the link to add the listing to your watch list. You need to be registered and logged in to do so.
Any questions, just let us know!
